BROOKINGS, S.D. – Sophomore Ella Gardner won the conference title in the long jump to headline the opening day of the Summit League Indoor Championships for the North Dakota State women’s track & field team on Friday.
Gardner captured the league crown in the long jump by posting a mark of 19-09.75 (6.04m). NDSU senior Grace Emineth took second at 19-07.00 (5.97m) to give the Bison women a 1-2 finish in the event, and freshman Nyariek Kur placed eighth for NDSU.
Senior Merrideth Spiers threw a lifetime-best 66-10 (20.37m) to take second in the weight throw, ranking fifth in NDSU history. Annabel Thorstenson placed sixth at 58-08.75 (17.90m).
NDSU’s Jaelyn Miller, Soraya Espino, Kate LeBlanc and Reagan Berg took runner-up honors in the distance medley relay. Their time of 11:49.64 puts them at No. 9 in school history.
Reagan Baesler (9:31.54) and Grace Link (9:37.87) placed third and fourth in the 3,000m.
The Bison women stand second in the team race after the first day with 49 points. North Dakota leads with 66.
In addition to the events that were finalized on Friday, NDSU sent a strong number of qualifiers through to Saturday’s running event finals.
Three Bison women advanced to the 400m dash final – Reese Rogowski in 55.23, Kaci Cooper in 55.42, and Allie Niska in 56.16.
Sydney Arndt and Marvelous Onwualo qualified for the 60m hurdles final. Arndt clocked a personal-best 8.30 to rank third on the NDSU all-time list.
Anika Larson (7.48) and Elise Wisnewski (personal-best 7.60) both qualified for the 60m dash final, as Wisnewski moved up to sixth on the NDSU all-time list. The duo also both advanced to the final of the 200m dash, with Larson at 24.38 and Wisnewski at 24.52.
Kate LeBlanc qualified for the 800m final in 2:12.71.
Freshman Riika Tirkkonen ran a 60m dash personal-best of 7.64 for ninth place. She is now tied for ninth on the NDSU all-time list.
Women’s competition will resume with the triple jump at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Running events begin at 1 p.m.
https://gobison.com/news/2025/2/28/womens-track-and-field-gardner-claims-long-jump-title-as-bison-women-get-started-at-summit-indoor.aspx